Yes, Dean Unglert Found Love on 'Bachelor in Paradise'

For plenty of reasons, the fourth-season premiere of Bachelor in Paradise is shaping up to be the most important reality series of the year. It's no longer just the campy summer guilty pleasure that we've all come to look forward to each August; instead, it's promised, via previews, to address issues of consent, alcohol consumption, and sexual assault.

"I'm interested to see how they portray [the Corinne and DeMario situation]," Bachelorettefan favorite Dean Unglert tells Glamour exclusively. "It looks like they're going to address it head-on, which is important. Transparency and honesty are the two best things in this case. There were cameras around, so it's really hard to deny any visual evidence, but it will be interesting to hear DeMario and Corinne's take on how it all unfolded."

While the circumstances surrounding Corinne and DeMario will likely be front and center during the early days of Paradise (as it should be), the series will definitely center back on the other contestants looking for love. Although Bachelor Nation doesn't always agree, most everyone wants to see fourth runner-up Dean get his happy ending. But will he?

"It was one of the greatest experiences of my life," he reveals. "I'm looking forward to [seeing it air], but also dreading it…just the emotion of it all. I almost think Paradise might have been more stressful than The Bachelorette to be perfectly honest."

On the other hand, during the course of our interview he admits he did find love, and very well could be among the final couples. So what else is in store? Read on.

Glamour: You mentioned that Paradise was more stressful than The Bachelorette. How so?

Dean Unglert: When you’re filming The Bachelorette, it’s up to her whether to give you a rose or not, but in Paradise obviously it alternates each week with guys having the roses and then girls having the roses. There are certain times when you don’t know who you want to give your rose to, because if you give it to someone, someone else might be going home. It's just a different kind of stress where you have to be cognizant of everyone’s feelings and not just your own and one other person’s. I don’t really like to be in that position where someone’s emotions are in my hands so drastically.

I’ve cried so much more in the last three months filming The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise than I have over the last 10 years, and here I am thinking I’m weak because of it, but ultimately I think people respond to it positively. It’s an interesting dynamic.

Glamour: You recently posted a photo on Instagram of yourself in Paradise and said you make a complete ass of yourself on the show. What did you do?

DU: [Laughs.] I think I always make a complete ass of myself no matter what setting I’m in, so this was no different! I went there with the intention of having fun and making the most of the experience, but there were times I was maybe [too] quick to make a decision. If I had time to sit back and think about [things] a little bit more analytically, I would [maybe] have chosen to do something differently. But I think that we had a lot of fun down there, and a lot of times you make an ass of yourself when you have fun. [Laughs.]

Glamour: After the incident involving Corinne and DeMario, a new rule permitting two drinks an hour was implemented. Was that an issue for you at all?

DU: No, [the drinks rule] never really affected any of us, to be honest. We all for the most part at least understand our limits. Of course, when you wake up in the morning and when you’re on a beach there’s not much to do, so you start drinking at a reasonable hour. But there was never a point where it really got out of hand from what I saw. But it didn’t really affect me. I’ve always been pretty [responsible] with my liquor [consumption].

Glamour: When we last spoke, you said you weren’t ready to get married at this point in your life because you hadn’t met the right person yet. But obviously on Paradise the end goal is to hopefully have couples that might get engaged. Were you even ready for that?

DU: I would love to be engaged to get married at some point. I think obviously the silver lining to all of this is that, yeah, it’s a reality-TV show that you’re going on with people you don’t know very well, but at the end of the day, the end goal is a proposal. And just because I’m not ready to get married because I don’t know the right person right now doesn’t mean that that person’s not going to come into my life today or tomorrow. That’s kind of my mind-set I was going in with. I know that there are a few relationships that came out of Paradise. It definitely has proven to work, as you’ve seen with Carly and Evan, and Jade and Tanner, so that’s pretty cool to see.

Glamour: Your first date in Paradise is with Kristina Schulman from Nick's season, but then everyone was sent home because of the investigation. Do you think that affected how things turned out in the end relationship-wise for you?

DU: Yeah, I think it affected everyone. When you’re in that environment, whether it’s Paradise or The Bachelorette, they take away your phone for a reason—so you can focus on the topic at hand and not be distracted by any outside influences. We were filming for three days, we were in Mexico for 10 days, and then had a week and a half hiatus where the entire original cast was able to text each other on a daily basis and see what life would be like with each other, or friendship-wise even outside of Paradise. It was definitely a unique perspective, and I’m not sure if it changed things for the better or worse, but it definitely changed things pretty significantly. So it’s going to be weird because you’re going to see these people in Paradise that have known each other for three days, and then in the next episode we will have known each other for three weeks. You go from acquaintances to being friends over the course of one episode just because of that break.

Glamour: Did you find it refreshing to be in the real world for a bit in between?

DU: It was refreshing in the sense that you have a real taste of what a relationship could be like outside of Paradise, and a lot of times you tend to romanticize things because again you’re giving your undivided attention to this person, and realistically you can’t do that in the real world. It provided a perspective that’s unique to the Bachelor franchise, for better or for worse. There were some couples that were able to push through that and continue moving forward after we resumed Paradise, and some of us didn’t. I’m not sure what was a product of which.

Glamour: There’s going to be a couple months' break from when you left Paradise to when you tape the live finale in September. Do you think viewers will be surprised when the finale happens?

DU: I think there were definitely a lot of cliffhangers from the last episode that wouldn’t have been able to be addressed without a live reunion, so I think it’s going to be interesting for the cast members and the audience. I definitely think that some of the couples that came out of this can be long-lasting.

Glamour: If you could go back and do anything differently starting on day one in Paradise, what would you tell yourself?

DU: It’s hard to say I’d do anything differently. Yeah, there were maybe things I didn’t handle as well as I would have hoped to, but I think I grew from it [in the end]. I think watching it back [when it starts airing] will definitely be difficult because there were times when I was very raw and very emotional, and whenever I get in those moods, it’s hard to watch myself.

I learned a lot about myself through Rachel, a lot about my family, a lot about what it really takes to open up to love someone, and then that kind of gets put on display again in Paradise. It’s all very cathartic in its own right and has provided a lot of clarity for me, but I still have a lot of unanswered questions for myself in terms of what it’s going to take to make me happy in a relationship.

Glamour: What are some specific qualities you need in your future partner?

DU: I love a woman who is independent and driven because I think a relationship is very much two people complementing each other and not being codependent on each other. That’s big for me. And someone who has a very fun attitude and doesn’t take life too seriously.

Glamour: And what their favorite dinosaur is!

DU: Yeah, that’s obviously the most pressing question. [Laughs.] What’s your favorite dinosaur and whether or not they believe in the tooth fairy.

Glamour: Finally, did you find love on Bachelor in Paradise?

DU: Did I find love in Paradise? Yeah, I’ll be honest with you. I did find love in Paradise. Yeah. I don’t see any need to hide it.

Glamour: Are you still in love?

DU: That’s the kicker! That’s the million-dollar question. I guess we’ll have to tune in to find out. That’s what the live reunion is for!

Bachelor in Paradise premieres tonight on ABC with a two-night, two-hour premiere.